Arthur Haddleton (6 April 1910 – 5 January 1971) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for various clubs in the 1930s. Despite showing promise in the early part of his career, he eventually achieved very little, although he did score in eight consecutive matches in 1931.

Football career

Early days

Haddleton was born in

Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea at ...

in County Durham and worked in the coal-mines, playing football for various colliery sides in the north east including Easington Colliery Welfare and

Horden Colliery Welfare Horden Community Welfare Football Club, usually abbreviated to Horden CW is a football club based in Horden, County Durham, England. The club was formed as Horden Colliery Welfare in 1908 and joined the North Eastern League in 1935, reaching ...

. He was spotted by scouts from

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

and moved to the south coast in October 1930.

Southampton

He made an immediate impression at The Dell, scoring eleven goals from seventeen games for the reserves. He made his first-team debut in a 1–0 defeat in the Second Division at Bury on 18 April 1931. The following season, he replaced the injured

Willie Haines Wyndham William Pretoria Haines (14 July 1900 – 5 November 1974) was an English footballer who played at centre-forward for south coast rivals, Portsmouth and then Southampton in the 1920s and 1930s. Club career Haines was born at Warminster ...

after the first match of the season. He scored in a 3–2 victory over

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

on 2 September and then scored at least once in each of the next seven games. This run of nine goals in eight consecutive matches remains a club record. After scoring against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Ro ...

on 3 October, he then only scored once more in the next five games. He was initially replaced by

Ted Drake Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as wel ...

, who had also made a name for himself in the reserves, and only made a further three appearances for the "Saints" first-team, spending the rest of the season back in the reserves. At the end of the season, he was one of three players (together with fellow forwards

Bill Fraser William Simpson Fraser (5 June 1908 – 9 September 1987) was a Scottish actor who appeared on stage, screen and television for many years. In 1986 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his stage role in the play '' ...

and Bert Jepson) who were sold to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

as the Saints were in serious financial difficulties and needed to raise funds. In his brief career at Southampton, Haddleton made 17 first-team appearances, scoring ten goals.

Later career

At Fulham, Haddleton scored twice on his debut and added two more goals from three matches, but was unable to displace Frank Newton as a regular in the side. In the summer of 1933, he move to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

where he was moved to an

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

role, with either Tommy Armstrong or

Fred Fisher Fred Fisher (born Alfred Breitenbach, September 30, 1875 – January 14, 1942) was a German-born American songwriter and Tin Pan Alley music publisher. Biography Fisher was born in Cologne, Germany. His parents were Max and Theodora Breitenb ...

in the centre, but failed to score in seven matches. He moved again in July 1934, this time to

the Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the In ...

to join

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is t ...

where he was played at

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

alongside prolific goal-scorer

Gilbert Alsop Gilbert Arthur Alsop (22 September 1908 – 16 April 1992) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Coventry City, Walsall, West Bromwich Albion and Ipswich Town. Early life Alsop was born ...

. After 15 appearances in the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

, in which he scored four goals, Haddleton fractured his leg and was eventually forced to retire.

After football

On abandoning his career as a professional footballer, Haddleton returned to

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

to live in

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, ...

where he was employed at the Pirelli General cable works, turning out for the works team. He died at Eastleigh in 1971, aged 60.

References

External links

Swindon Town profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haddleton, Arthur 1910 births 1971 deaths Footballers from Chester-le-Street People from Eastleigh English men's footballers Men's association football forwards English Football League players Southampton F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Easington Colliery A.F.C. players Horden Athletic F.C. players Pirelli General F.C. players